Amazon Future Engineer Brings Computer Science Courses to More Than
1,000 High Schools in Underprivileged Communities Across All 50 States

By this fall, more than 1,000 high schools will offer Introductory
and Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science courses funded by the
Amazon Future Engineer program – part of Amazon’s $50 million investment
in computer science and STEM education

More than 700 of the of high schools participating in Amazon Future
Engineer serve students from low-income communities, as indicated by the
school’s Title I status

Amazon Future Engineer is a four-part, childhood-to-career program
that works to inspire and educate 10 million children and young adults
each year from underprivileged, underrepresented, and underserved
communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer
science and coding

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced it will fund computer science
courses in more than 1,000 high schools across all 50 states and the
District of Columbia reaching tens of thousands of students from
underprivileged, underrepresented, or underserved communities, through
its Amazon
Future Engineer program. Of the more than 1,000 high schools, more
than 700 are classified as Title I schools. Amazon’s funding provides
full-year courses designed to inspire, prepare and propel students of
all backgrounds to pursue a computer science education and career.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2020 there will be 1.4
million computer-science-related jobs available and only 400,000
computer science graduates with the skills to apply for those jobs.
Computer science is the fastest-growing profession within the Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field, but only 8% of STEM
graduates earn a computer science degree, with a tiny minority from
underprivileged backgrounds. Students from underprivileged backgrounds
are 8 to 10 times more likely to pursue college degrees in computer
science if they have taken AP computer science in high school.

“Our students are hungry for computer science education, but we could
not get the funding to bring this class to our school,” said Chad Bobb,
a teacher at Pike High School, a Title I school in Indianapolis,
Indiana. “Amazon Future Engineer allows us to open our students’ eyes to
something that is both interesting and can lead them into rewarding,
thriving careers.”

“It is so important to ensure that every student in the U.S. has the
opportunity to be well-prepared for the highly technical jobs of the
present and future,” said Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas),
Chair of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. “I welcome
initiatives such as the Amazon Future Engineer program that can increase
opportunities for young people who have too long been underrepresented
in STEM jobs due to race, gender, or socioeconomic status. I’d like to
offer my congratulations to the schools in Dallas, and across the
country, who have taken the lead in working to promote solutions to this
issue by increasing access to computer science education.”

“The U.S. Chamber’s Technology Engagement Center is pleased to see
Amazon expand this program, as computer science and all STEM education
programs are critical to the workforce of the future,” said Tim Day,
Senior Vice President of the Chamber Technology Engagement Center
(C_TEC). “More students will have access to the tools they need to be
successful, and more businesses will be able to hire employees with the
skills necessary to compete in a data driven economy.”

“We want to ensure that every child, especially those from
underprivileged communities, has an opportunity to study computer
science,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “We are
excited more than 1,000 schools will now provide these courses, and look
forward to adding 1,000 more schools over the coming months.”

The more than 1,000 high schools will offer Intro to Computer Science
and AP Computer Science classes through curriculum provider, Edhesive.
Amazon’s funding provides preparatory lessons, tutorials, professional
development for teachers, fully sequenced and paced digital curriculum
for students, and live online support every day of the week for both
teachers and students. All students participating in this program will
receive a free membership to AWS
Educate, which provides them with free access to computing power in
the AWS Cloud for their coding projects and content to learn about cloud
computing.

Launched
in November, 2018, Amazon
Future Engineer is a four-part childhood-to-career program intended
to inspire, educate, and prepare children and young adults from
underprivileged, underrepresented, and underserved communities to pursue
careers in the fast-growing field of computer science. Each year, Amazon
Future Engineer aims to inspire more than 10 million kids to explore
computer science; provide over 100,000 young people in over 2,000 high
schools access to Intro or AP Computer Science courses; award 100
students with four-year $10,000 scholarships, as well as offer
guaranteed and paid Amazon internships to gain work experience. Amazon
Future Engineer is part of Amazon’s $50 million investment in computer
science/STEM education. In addition, Amazon Future Engineer has donated
more than $10 million to organizations that promote computer
science/STEM education across the country.

Schools, administrators, and teachers interested in applying to any
stage of the Amazon Future Engineer program can apply and learn more here.

For more information about Amazon Future Engineer, check out About
Amazon.

About ‘Amazon in the Community’

Amazon is committed to ensuring all children and young adults,
especially those from underprivileged, underrepresented, and underserved
communities, have the resources and skills they need to build their best
future. Amazon focuses on building long-term, innovative, and high
impact programs that leverage Amazon’s unique assets and culture.
Programs include Amazon Future Engineer, designed to inspire and excite
children and young adults from underprivileged and underrepresented
communities to pursue an education in computer science, as well as
programs that support “Right Now Needs,” fighting childhood hunger,
family homelessness, and disaster relief.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than
competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational
excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping,
personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle
Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa
are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more
information, visit amazon.com/about
and follow @AmazonNews.